IT WAS NOTHING like Steve Jobs introducing the iPhone. But the two-hour show on March 25th put on by Tim Cook, Jobs’s less histrionic successor as boss of Apple, may nevertheless be remembered as a milestone for the company—and the entertainment industry. Mr Cook did not announce the latest sleek gadget. Instead, he unveiled a suite of products and services, including video streaming, news, games and even a credit card. As theatre, it was underwhelming—star-studded supporting cast including Oprah Winfrey notwithstanding. As a business case, it looks more compelling.

Apple’s 900m iPhones worldwide, more than six times as many as Netflix has subscribers, grant it access to a massive potential audience. Analysts speculate that Apple will eventually offer them a variant of Amazon Prime, where customers pay a flat monthly fee for some combination of news, games, cloud storage, music and video,...